I know what you’re thinking; a flashlight is a flashlight, right? We insert the batteries and click it on when it’s too dark to see. Well being an avid outdoors man, I have seen many flashlights come and go, some break, some get wet, some need new bulbs that never get replaced and some just do not make the grade.

The Bigger the flash light the brighter it shines, not any more. Maybe in the old days of the big, cumbersome, spot lights with a trillion candle watts this was true. Now days with technology changing at the speed of light and the growth of the hunting industry flash lights have changed drastically. Smaller sized flashlights are brighter, lighter and more durable than ever before.

Of all the flashlights that I have tried in the last few years, my favorite is the Energizer LED series.The Energizer LED series is taking charge of the flashlight world bring you an impressive collection of flashlights at a price that will not break the bank. Flashlights of this quality use to cost upwards of $100.00, but thanks to Energizer not any more. You can now purchase a great flashlight for $5.00 to $40.00 that will stand the test of time, and you will not cry like a baby if you lose it on the water or in the woods.

(LED) Light emitting diodes have many benefits compared to the old twist out bulbs. LED’s use less power so batteries last longer; they never need to be replaced and are virtually indestructible. One product from Energizer I recently purchased is there aluminum LED flash light which at seven inches is a small spot light that fits in your back pocket. Man this thing is bright. It runs on two AA batteries, which it comes with has four hours of continuous run time, is waterproof and has 62 Lumens ratings. I can not wait to use this flashlight for the upcoming hunting season to light up the woods or the water.

Another excellent product and must have for the outdoors is Energizers LED head lamps. By far everyone hunting or fishing should have one of these. From climbing into your stand in the early morning hours to picking up decoys in the late evening, these lamps keep both of your hands free so you can focus on what you are doing for your own safety. Another significant advantage is the various modes on these models such as spot, flood and night vision. The night vision which comes in green, red or blue light, that is perfect for not spooking game but offers enough light to see what you’re doing in your in your tree stand, duck blind or fishing hole.

There are thousands of flashlights to choice from theses day, and I have tried most of them. The Energizer series of flash lights prove to me to be the best out there when it comes to brightness, cost, weight and size. You can bet I will not leave home without mine this season.

For more information on the Energizer Flashlights visit, Energizer.com

Climbing trees stands have come a long way in the past 8 years. There are many choices on the market today to choose between from stands that are very light weight and portable to stands that are bulkier and more comfortable than your favorite reclining chair.

When it became time, to start shopping around for a new climber I looked at all the retail stores and also searched online for the newest hottest stands out. I became very confused with all the stands to choose from on the market today. I knew that I wanted a climber that was light weight, safe and extremely comfortable but did not know were to find just that. As luck would have it while out on an annual visit to the Woods “N” Water Show in Imlay City, Michigan my brother and I came across a vender selling climbing tree stands. Very impressed by the sales pitch we both purchased a Tree Walker Tree Stand that day.

The Tree Walker Climbing tree stand is lightweight weighing in at only 18lbs and is also extremely comfortable to hunt in. This stand is both easy to use and extremely safe to hunt in. It has a large platform size of 20” X 35” Comfortable mesh seat measuring 22” X 34” and a weight limit of 350 lbs for all you big guys. You can climb trees from 6’ up to 26” in diameter. With all those great features how does it get better here is how get this it’s 100% made and manufactured in the USA, and it comes with a lifetime warranty. “Wow” that should be the end of this gear review, but wait it gets even better.

It is very quit to carry and easy to set up, the two piece stand snaps together with its interlocking system so no need for bungees or straps to hold it together. It is easy as pie to attaché to the tree, even in the dark. It has a memory cable that wraps around the tree with a bright yellow end to make it the fastest climber to set up that I have ever seen. It has a patented Possi Grip engagement system that guarantees no slip (these are 1’ spikes that go into the tree so it is probably not the best choose for public land hunting). I have never once in the 5 years I have owned the stand ever had it slip from its spot on the tree.

You can hunt out of the Tree Walker Tree Stand by facing it toward or away from the tree. This feature is nice to have on a tree stand it gives you the ability to change your hunting style to fit your needs and adapts to all different types of trees you may come across in the woods. It has a foot rest and a shooting rest. It comes with a set of backpack straps that make it very sweet to carry to your tree. It has a very balanced weight when back packing and climbing. I have carried this stand over two miles to my tree with little effort or strain.

As stated earlier, I have owned this stand for 5 years plus and use it on a daily basis through out the Michigan & Ohio hunting seasons. I have yet to have anything break or fail. This stand gives me the versatility to change tree stand locations in search for that monster buck of a lifetime. It is comfortable enough to hunt in all day during the rut when the big boys are on there feet. It is light enough, easy to carrier, super simple to set up, safe and quite so you won’t mind hauling it out into the woods on a daily basis. So the bottom line is “go get you one son” and you will not be disappointed. I have not seen them at any outdoor/hunting shows in a couple of years so the only place I know to purchase this bad boy is on there website at www.treewalker.com starting price is $ 329.00 with lots of option cool accessories to buy with it.

I have been using the Primos Truth 46 Trail Camera for a little over a year now. This Camera in my opinion is one of the best trail cameras you can buy for the money. I purchased my trail cameras last year for $89.00 each which I found to be a great value. The Cameras are a little larger than most trail cameras on the market today measuring 7” x 9” x 3”deep. This does not seem to bother me, yes it makes them difficult to carry, but I can carry 4 to 5 cameras in a medium backpack with batteries, SD cards, rubber gloves, and water.

The camera comes packaged with a heavy duty hook strap to secure it to the tree. If security is a concern, there are two ways to protect you camera and SD card. You can install a small pad lock to protect your sd card, and there is a molded security cable hole through case for theft prevention. We typically use a Master Lock Python Cable Lock thru the molded security hole along with the supplied strap to attache to the tree. The camera operates on 4 D batteries which seem to last a long time. On average, we get about three months or 3000 pictures on a single set of batteries. I have had some trouble with the unit operating properly when the batteries level drops below 30%, but over all I am impressed with the battery life of the camera. Supports up to 8 gigabyte SD card but I typically use a 2 gigabyte SD Card which holds about 1600 pictures. I typically check my trail cameras once a month so 2 gigabytes is more than enough memory.

The Primos Truth 46 Trail Camera has a 1.4 second trigger speed with a recovery time of around 5 seconds. Its detection range is around 40 to 50 feet depending on temperature and lighting. It stamps photos or video with date, time, temperature, and moon phase information. Has an image resolution of 3 megapixels, which provides a good picture quality. There is some noise when the camera takes day time pictures due to the filter but I have never noticed a problem with the noise spooking animals.

My favorite part about this camera is its ease of use. It is by far one of the easiest trail camera’s I have ever used. It has a very easy to read back lit led digital display. With the push of a button you can format your SD card, change sensitivity level, set # of pictures

taken at a time and change the time and date. Once you are strapped to the tree and ready to go you just hit the run/wake button and a timer with 30 seconds starts counting down and you are ready to go. When you come back to pull your SD card on your trail camera all you have to do is push the run/wake button, and the digital display shows you the number of pictures taken.

The Primos Truth 46 Trail Camera has everything I need out of a trail camera. It is not the fastest, quietest, or it does not take the best pictures I have ever seen, but it does capture the deer so I can create my hit lists and management plans for the season. I have used a couple different trail cameras that were faster and took better pictures but also cost me a lot more money. If you are considering purchasing a good quality trail camera, that gets the job done but does not break the bank I highly recommend the Primos Truth 46 trail camera. After all, you can never have enough trail cameras.

A couple of years ago, after reading all of the hype and falling into the marketing strategy behind the Rage expandable broadheads – I went out and bought myself a set. I thought it was an ingenious way for the blades to deploy on impact, while maintaining a low profile (like a field point) during flight.

Well a couple of years have gone by now, and after having taken 3 different deer over the past two seasons – I’ve come to the deduction that they are not all they are cracked up to be. I shoot an Alpine Ravage at 75lbs, and though it is definitely not the fastest bow around – I should not be having any issues with penetration or pass-through… In all cases that I have taken a deer with my Rage broadhead, I have experienced poor penetration and no pass-through.

After experiencing a heart-breaking situation last season, in which I shot a big 9 point buck at approximately 6 yards, only to watch him run away with the arrow sticking out the top of his back with no exit wound below (and no blood trail) – I decided to try something different!

This season I am using a set of Shuttle T-Lock broadheads and have recently taken a 6 point buck. The flight was right-on and the arrow passed through flawlessly, leaving decent sized entry and exit wounds.

It had been a rainy morning, but didn’t need to look for a blood trail – since I’d watched the buck run to to about 70 yards and lay down to expire.

Taking into consideration the flight, accuracy and impact of these broadheads – I would definitely recommend them to any hunters that may be disillusioned with some of the other more popular broadheads on the market.

The solid construction of the Shuttle T-Lock and solid steel ferrule guarantee that the 3 replaceable blades will stay in place, so long as the broadhead is crewed securely to your arrow. The unique shape of the blades, which mimic the curves of the space shuttle (thus the name) help to ensure smooth accurate flight.

Check out a set of Shuttle T-Lock broadheads at your local archery or sporting goods store today!